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Wikipedia / Rondi Reed

Rondi Anne Reed (born October 26, 1952) is an American actress of stage and screen. A longtime member of Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Company, she has appeared in more than 50 productions at that theater. Also active on Broadway, she won the 2008 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play for her portrayal of Mattie Fae Aiken in August: Osage County. She is also known for the role of Peggy on the television sitcom Mike & Molly which she played from 2010-2016.

Early life

Reed was born in Dixon, Illinois. She graduated from Illinois State University in 1977. She then met a Broadway theatrical producer named Stephen Eich in 1976 during her time in Steppenwolf Theater and married him in 1982. They divorced in 2016, after being married for 34 years.

Career

Reed has been a member of Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Company for many years, appearing in 51 productions with the company. She appeared on Broadway in The Rise and Fall of Little Voice in 1994 and The Grapes of Wrath in 1990, among others. On July 13, 2005, she originated the role of Madame Morrible in the Chicago production of the musical Wicked.

She originated the role of Mattie Fae Aiken in the Broadway production of August: Osage County in 2007, for which she won the 2008 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play.

She later reprised her role of Madame Morrible in Wicked in Chicago, beginning June 27, 2008. Her second run ended November 18, 2008, and she was again replaced by Robertson. She then reprised her role as Mattie Fae Aiken in the London production of August: Osage Country before returning to Madame Morrible in the Broadway production of Wicked. She began performances March 17, 2009, replacing Jayne Houdyshell and bowed out as the evil headmistress on June 27, 2010, to star in the Australian production of August in Sydney. The limited engagement of the show ran from August 13 – September 25, 2010. She returned to the New York production of "Wicked" from July 31, 2017, to January 28, 2018.

She appeared in the Seinfeld episode "The Kiss Hello" (originally aired on February 16, 1995). She starred on the CBS sitcom Mike & Molly, as Peggy Biggs, Mike's mother. She also appeared on Roseanne as Jackie's therapist.

Film

Year

Title

Role

Notes

1986

One More Saturday Night

Mrs. Becker

1992

Mo' Money

District Attorney

1993

Born Yesterday

Victoria Penny

Joshua Tree

Detective Chelsey

Also released as Army of One and Vanishing Red, among other titles

1993

Fearless

Veronica Castane

1996

Eye for an Eye

Regina Gratz

1997

Jungle 2 Jungle

Sarah

1999

The Astronaut's Wife

Dr. Conlin

2014

Cotton

Nadine

2015

Always Worthy

Michaela

Television

Year

Title

Role

Notes

1992

Roseanne

Therapist

Season 4 episode 20: "Therapist"

L.A. Law

Nancy Lapine

Season 6 episode 20: "Beauty and the Breast"

Desperate Choices: To Save My Child

Dr. Brunell

TV movie

1993

Wild Palms

Eileen Whitehope

Miniseries Episodes: "Everything Must Go" and "The Floating World"

Murder in the Heartland

Jonette Fox

Miniseries

1995

Grace Under Fire

Irma Gold

Season 2 episode 14: "No Money Down"

Seinfeld

Mary

Season 6 episode 17: "The Kiss Hello"

A Streetcar Named Desire

Eunice

TV movie

1996

Innocent Victims

Bonnie Griffin

TV movie

1997

Nothing Sacred

Barbara Keneally

Episode 3: "Mixed Blessings"

Night Man

Hospitalized girl's Mother

Season 1 episode 5: "Still of the Night"

1998

The Practice

Suzanne Carroll

Season 2 episode 22: "Another Day"

Cybill

Therapist

Season 4 episode 16: "Fine Is Not a Feeling"

1999

Home Improvement

Dr. Miller

Season 8 episode 22: "Loose Lips and Freudian Slips"

2003

Normal

Roy's Sister Beth

TV movie

Fargo

Anne Mendelson

TV movie

2008

Lipstick Jungle

Lana

Season 1 episode 4: "Chapter Four: Bombay Highway"

2010

You Don't Know Jack

Judge Cooper

TV movie

2010–2016

Mike & Molly

Peggy

62 episodes

2014

Long Way Home

Sandy "Go-Go" Rhodes

Season 1 episodes 1-4: "Del 1," "Del 2," "Del 3," "Del 4"

2015

Scandal

Mary Peterson

Season 4 episode 20: "First Lady Sings the Blues"

2016

Masters of Sex

Edith Schiff

Season 4 episodes 5, 6, 7: "Outlier," "Family Only," "In to Me You See"

2018

Disjointed

Nana

Episode 18: "A-A-R-Pot"

How To Get Away With Murder

Judge Victoria Harper

Season 5 Episode 3: "The Baby Was Never Dead"

Midnight, Texas

Grace Barrone

Season 2 episode 4: "I Put A Spell on You"

2019

Speechless

Nina

Season 3 episode 13: "F-a-Fashion 4 A-All"

2021

Mom

Jolene

Season 8 episode 18: "My Kinda People and the Big To-Do"

2021

Why Women Kill

Mrs. Carol Yost

3 episodes

2022

B Positive

Irene

3 episodes

How We Roll

Ruth

3 episodes

2023

Fatal Attraction

Judge Webb

Season 1 Episode 7 "Best Friend"

2024

Bookie

Helen

Season 2 Episode 3 "Boom, Done, Hello Jesus"

2025

Monster: The Ed Gein Story

Mary Hogan

Season 3 Episode 2 "Sick as Your Secrets"

Stage

Year

Title

Role

Notes

1987

A Lie of the Mind

Lorraine

Steppenwolf Theatre, Chicago

1987

Aunt Dan and Lemon

Mother

Steppenwolf Theatre, Chicago

1990

The Grapes of Wrath

Mrs. Wainwright

Cort Theatre, Broadway

1991

Another Time

Leonard's Mother

Steppenwolf Theatre, Chicago

1994

The Rise and Fall of Little Voice

Mari Hoff

Neil Simon Theatre, Broadway

2007

August: Osage County

Mattie Fae Aiken

Imperial Theatre, Broadway

2010

Wicked

Madame Morrible (Replacement)

Gershwin Theatre, Broadway

2018

Henry IV

Mistress Quickly

Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles

References